Monday, January 7, 2013

Having a look for some doggy expressions and came across lots of idioms both positive and negative....Here are a few to keep you going!

a dog and pony showa dog in the mangera dog's breakfasta shaggy dog storyas sick as a dogbarking dog never bitesbe as sick as a dogbe like a dog with a bonebe like a dog with two tailsBetter be the head of a dog than the tail of a lionbring a dog to heelcall off the dogscall the dogs offcrooked as a barrel of fish hooksdirty dogdog and pony showdog ate my homeworkDog does not eat dogdog eat dogdog-tireddone up like a dog's dinner

Every dog has its dayfight like cat and dogGive a dog a bad namego to potgo to see a man about a doggo to the dogshair of the dog that bithave a dog's chanceHot diggety!hot dogHot dog!I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemyIf you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleasIt's a dog's lifeIt's raining cats and dogs!It's raining pitchforkslead a dog's lifeLet sleeping dogs lielike a blind dog in a meat marketLove me, love my doglucky dog

meaner than a junkyard dogput a dog off the scentput on the dograin cats and dogsraining cats and dogssee a man about a dogshaggy-dog Storyshouldn't happen to a dogsick as a dogtail wagging the dogthe dog daysthe hair of the dogthe tail wagging the dogthe top dogThere's life in the old dog yetthrow to the dogsWhy keep a dog and bark yourself?work like a dogYou can't teach an old dog new tricksYou cannot teach an old dog new tricks

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

We had made plans to go out for dinner as it is the last night for the in-laws and I had been thinking most of the day what to do about the dog. I had been reading up on line and there were a few helpful suggestions. We've been practising the 'come here' thing for the times when she runs off and it worked quite well yesterday when she got loose at the blow hole. I wanted to tire her out so once we got past the Dulux dog and it's yappy side kick's house I let her off the lead. My main concern is the cars and even though she ran wild like a banshee she generally doesn't go to far away from me. However, the 'come here' didn't work all the time but I'm not sure she could hear me over the wind. Once we got back I spent the next 45 mins preventing her from sleeping. I then kept her distracted while I cleared the hallway as leaving the dog in the kitchen wasn't working. The last time I came back and it was nowhere to be seen. I was rather puzzled and then there it was locked in the pantry surrounded by treats. Luckily most of them her own.
So with all potential chewable things out of the way I got the visitors to go out so there wasn't the 20 min build up we've been having, put some food down for her and we left. We had a lovely dinner, a warm fisherman's platter. It had crab claws, muscles, salmon, cod and prawns. I've got to say it was all really good except for the cod. It did redeem itself as I was most put out by the fact they have changed the menu and removed the muscles. I had been planning on having them all week. Unfortunately I got prematurely excited by the change in menu. The boarder has changed to blue and they've removed my favourite dish but the rest is more or less the same.....
At the end of dinner I didn't want to hang around and was anxious to get back to see what destruction I would have to clear up. I got to the door and there was no barking. Then I saw the door to the sewing room, well it's one of the spare rooms but the husband needs a clue, was open. My heart sank. That's where I had stored all the shoes from the front door, including the unworn, new shoes to replace the chewed ones and my new coat among lots of other stuff.
It took a while for it to come to the door and then I walked into the room without even taking my boots off. I couldn't believe what I saw. nothing. everything was in tact. Nothing chewed.So I don't know if it was letting the dog run around to tire it, not making a fuss, giving the food, putting it in the hall instead of the kitchen or that it got to sleep on the spare bed. Whatever it was it worked. No chewed mats, no broken ceramic bowl, no chewed shoes....nothing. We didn't make a fuss when we got back and so I have a huge sense of relief. It just means I have to replicate it every time I want to leave. But that should be fine cause now I have all the gear.
Night x

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

I came across this post which is one on the list to try! Now there is no need for the clientele of The Brandling Villa, Newcastle to leave their best friends behind when they go out for a drink.The pub’s landlord has introduced a beer specially formulated for dogs, as well as a canine pub-grub menu in case the session leaves them feeling peckish. The must have dish on the menu is a Sunday roast served with ‘cat-flavoured’ gravy – don’t worry, it’s actually fish-based.The dog beer is made from the same stuff as human beer – malt and hops – but it also contains meat extract.Manager Dave Carr says he aims to create a traditional atmosphere with a modern twist, which includes encouraging owners to bring their pets.“I scoped the internet looking for ridiculous stuff, and we became dog-friendly. There aren’t many pubs you can go to with your dog”, says Carr. “Dog friendly is really the way it should be. Pubs should have wooden floors and dogs in front of the fire.” He says that his customers seem to love the new idea and that his first supply of dog beer has sold out in no time.How much would I like to see pubs like this in Ireland?

Being a dog owner is new to me. We moved to Ireland for a lifestyle change and part of that was getting a dog. To be honest my husband who had never been allowed a pet as a child cause his parents don't like them was very keen. I had a dog as a child and tried to talk him out of it. We eventually agreed to get one and I started looking on the ISPCA website http://www.ispca.ie/. I did lots of research about which breed and wanted a labrador cross but was determined to get a rescue dog. Then one day I say a photo of this cute looking labrador collie cross and all reservations when out the window. I did a lot of research about dogs before getting one but the one thing I didn't count on was the 'attitude' of, in the most part, Ireland has towards dogs. I love going back to England and having dinner in the pub with my friends and catching up over drinks but in Ireland.....Where I live I can't even get so much as a sandwich if the dog is with me unless I am prepared to sit outside. The weather is in the most part great but the temperature would give me chilblains.I suppose that a lot of dogs, especially where I live, are working dogs. Dogs are left to walk themselves and owners do not clean up after their four legged friends. So this blog is about discovering dog-friendly Ireland. In these current economic times being dog friendly could be a real boost for business. Certainly in England the places we go often have more than just our dog and for sure they would not have got that business if they weren't dog friendly.The majority of tourists to Ireland are from England and every time I go over on the ferry there are a lot of dogs travelling. 48% of UK households have a pet - 23% are dogs which is around 8 million dogs. (source:http://www.pfma.org.uk/pet-population/) That's a lot of potential customers to exclude from your business.So I want to highlight those places that are dog friendly and hope that all pet lovers will give them their business.